


Crashing

by snowhiteice



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Drunken fluff, F/M, Graduate School AU, Hiccstrid - Freeform, honestly started as a songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-12
Updated: 2020-01-12
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:00:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22222195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snowhiteice/pseuds/snowhiteice
Summary: Astrid meets Hiccup at a house party where she ends up drinking a little too much.
Relationships: Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III/Astrid Hofferson
Comments: 8
Kudos: 66





	Crashing

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Please enjoy this nugget of words that I could not stop thinking about until it was posted and far from my brain.

Astrid didn’t know anyone standing around her in the kitchen. It was overrun with buzzed people trying to grab another drink or shove more potato chips in their mouth before running back to the impromptu dance party in the backyard. 

Heather had been by her side, but after three beers Astrid had gone to use the bathroom. And after waiting for fifteen minutes as girl after girl walked past her ready to reenter the fray, Astrid had to go searching for her friend. 

“Can I get you anything?” Astrid felt a light touch on her shoulder and turned around. It was Hiccup…right? Heather had mentioned his name quickly as she was catching Astrid up on who was who at this house party. After parking four blocks away, they had been walking quickly in heels as chilling wind bit at their faces; it was a surprise Astrid retained anything from her best friend’s spiel.

He was Fishlegs’ roommate as of six months ago, and apparently he kept himself so busy that Heather had barely seen him in the house more than twice ever since he moved in. Astrid found that hard to believe since Heather was always hanging around her boyfriend’s place because she didn’t know how to feed herself anything other than boiled potatoes. Plus, he had a real TV.

Hiccup was tall, he was standing so close to her in the crowded kitchen that she needed to lift her head back to see his face. His sweet unassuming smile pulled her in and she smiled in return. “Sure,” she answered. He held up a finger, indicating that he’d be back, before squeezing through the sea of bodies. His slender frame made it look easy, but as he got swallowed up, Astrid realized she didn’t mention what she wanted.

With amusement she watched as two red cups floated towards her above the heads of everyone. Finally, she saw Hiccup shimmy past a group of girls who were chugging beer and reclaimed the tiny space in front of her to hand her one of the drinks. “Thanks,” she smiled, taking a sip. It was sweet and light. Tiny bubbles made the liquid sparkle against her tongue. “Champagne?” she asked Hiccup. “What are we celebrating?”

Hiccup laughed and shrugged, “Someone had to open that bottle, and all the good beer is out.”

“Fair enough,” Astrid touched her plastic cup to his. “Thanks for not bringing me piss-colored water.”

“Anytime milady,” his smile was back and Astrid’s breath hitched for a second when her eyes looked straight into his, bright and green. “I’m Hiccup by the way,” he placed a hand on her shoulder and leaned in toward her ear as he introduced himself properly. A quick shock buzzed down Astrid’s spine when he touched her.

“I know,” she replied, tip-toeing to speak closer to his ear. “Heather told me that you moved in a while back.” She held out her hand for him to shake, “I’m Astrid.”

“Nice to finally meet you Astrid,” he said. He shook her hand, but after a couple seconds, his hand was still in hers. After looking around the kitchen, his eyes found hers again and he gestured for her to follow him. Once again, he gently pushed through others chatting and laughing, leading her towards a door to the outside. Cool clean air hit Astrid in the face and she sighed with relief. Her body had been warmed from all the bodies, and her hand was about to start sweating right there in Hiccup’s hold. 

They circumvented the dancing and found a few chairs still unoccupied in the corner. He finally dropped her hand and used it to motion towards the wooden lawn chair. Astrid took a seat without thinking. “So, you’re friends with Heather and Fish?” Hiccup asked plopping down next to her.

“Mmhmm, I know her from undergrad, but we didn’t know we’d run into each other out here, and then she met Fishlegs who I knew from TAing and it’s kinda weird that we all met separately, but the world continues to prove to be very small sometimes…” Astrid almost kept rambling, but she saw Hiccup chuckling with amusement in his eyes and stopped short. “Sorry,” she said quickly before taking a large gulp to distract her mouth.

“World’s not that small,” he said, seemingly ignoring her blush. “After all this time of us knowing Fish and Heather, the two of us never met before now.” That was true. Astrid barely registered that Fishlegs had anyone new move in after that slob Sven who tried to sneak in a couple pet sheep. Who kept sheep as pets anyway?

“You never seem to be around. What do you do?” Astrid asked leaning closer to hear him better.

Hiccup mirrored her, leaning his elbows on his knees. If Astrid moved an inch, her bare knee would hit his, so she moved closer. Hiccup didn’t seem to notice. “I, uhh, I work at an animal rehabilitation center, but I actually work at a lab that works with the center to help build prosthetics for the animals. It’s a lot of trying and retrying to get the fit and design right for different species and ages. It’s mostly dogs that come in, but I’ve seen a turtle, an alligator, some wild animals from zoos and I’ve even done a fin for a sea lion…” Astrid’s eyes must have been wide with her surprise and admiration, because then Hiccup’s lit up expression became sheepish as he said, “I know, it’s kinda weird, but if being an engineer was my only option, I was gonna do something interesting with it.”

“No!” Astrid put her hand on his knee. He glanced down at it before bringing his gaze back to her smiling face. “That is the most amazing thing I’ve ever heard someone do. You get to help animals in like the most real way imaginable!” How much champagne had she unknowingly sipped up? The bubbles were flittering around her head and along her skin.

The reddening on Hiccup’s face was visible under the string lights surrounding their heads. He rubbed the back of his neck and smiled uncertainly. “Thanks.” Before he could feel any more uncomfortable by Astrid’s acute gushing enthusiasm for his work, she started rambling. It was increasingly alcohol-induced, but soon the two of them fell into conversations about Astrid’s pet lizard, Hiccup’s home town, what they did before graduate school, whether hotdogs were in fact a type of sandwich.

Eventually, Astrid’s loose grip on her cup let it slip onto the grass, but it was empty and Hiccup immediately took her hand and announced they needed to find another drink. Looking up at the rest of the backyard, a wash of reality hit Astrid and sobered her for a minute. The crowd of dancers had diminished to a few stragglers chatting and a couple slow dancing, though it was really just swaying as they kept each other from falling over. Apparently, this passage of time did not hit Hiccup like it did her, and he led them once again back into the kitchen where no one was vying for space anymore. Empty chip bags, six pack carriers, plates, cups, and more littered the counters. Amidst the mess, Hiccup found and popped open more champagne. Astrid looked around for any other option. Piss beer and soda. Fish’s guests had really done a number on their supplies.

“I’m just gonna- ,” Hiccup put the long dark bottle opening to his lips and threw back his head. After a couple gulps, he offered it to Astrid, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand.

“Really? Little much, no?”

“Hey, I’m just following my advisor’s advice. Gotta work hard to play hard, and I have definitely deserved this weekend off.”

Astrid fell back into her slow-moving world, as she watched Hiccup become animated in a retelling of his advisor’s nights filled with debauchery. Somewhere in between his words, she had coaxed the bottle of bubbly out of his hand to take a swig herself. She stared at his freckles splattered across his nose and cheeks. His words barely made their way through her ears as she watched his lips shape out different sounds. She stood closer to him and felt warm, nodding to encourage the tangent he’d followed about some night he’d spent in an elephant enclosure. His arms reached out to describe the size of the elephant’s leg and Astrid could only imagine how it would feel if he wrapped those arms around her in that moment.

Her body wanted to move towards him, to let her hands run through his hair and down his chest. She wanted to feel his warmth on her skin and…

“Astrid?” She looked back up at Hiccup, his one eyebrow raised and a tentative grin waiting for her to respond.

“Sorry,” she giggled and placed the bottle down on the counter, crinkling a bag of chips. “I was just, um…” Her hands waved around near his face, as if their motions made up for the words not coming out of her mouth. “I just wanted to…” One hand reached up and rested on his cheek. He didn’t move, but looked at her, waiting to see where she would take this tipsy explanation. Another hand cupped his other cheek and Astrid felt the smooth easy motion of stretching up onto her toes. “You’re just so good…” She leaned in and let her lips meet his.

Immediately Astrid tasted champagne and it made her smile against his mouth. His mouth! His lips were soft and sticky from their drink, they were warm and fit snug against hers. Feeling them like this sent a wave of calm down her body, she finally knew, her burning curiosity was satisfied and she parted, rolling down onto the soles of her feet.

Hiccup’s eyes slowly flickered open and he still didn’t say anything. Instead his hand came up between them, like it needed to touch his lips to check if they were still there. But then Astrid smiled, her focus held by his bright eyes and before she knew what he was doing, before her sloppy brain could anticipate his body language, Hiccup’s hands were holding onto her face and pulling her back up to his lips.

Astrid moaned softly then and her arms snaked up to his neck. This is what her body had been telling her to do, to get this somehow, to feel Hiccup’s warm hands on her, even if it was just through her clothes. His hair was soft and thick as her fingers explored the auburn locks before clasping together at the back of his neck. She let herself weigh him down from his neck, and as if they were already one, seamlessly he leaned down to keep their lips from parting. Her body had fallen away from her, it was just clouds and smoke, she was weightless and her brain knew nothing except Hiccup. “Mmhph…want you,” she breathed as they paused for air.

Hiccup brought his hands to frame her face, one hand caressed her hair away from her cheek. His eyes searched her expression. “How drunk are you right now?” he asked gently.

Astrid shook her head as he brought her hands up to hold his wrists. “I’m not drunk,” she softly insisted. She heard Hiccup chuckle and a wide toothy grin grew on her face. “I’m just so happy,” she explained shaking entire body this time.

Hiccup hugged her closer to him and she felt him kiss her hair, but then he let go and stepped away, taking all the warmth she’s ever known with him. “Maybe you should get some rest,” he suggested, looking around at who was left in his kitchen. No one. The neon green block numbers on his oven read 2:40 and it was the first time that night Hiccup recalled time had passed. “It’s pretty late,” he said turning back towards Astrid, this beautiful flirty drunk he can’t believe he’s only met tonight. He caught her placing the green bottle down on the counter and wiping her mouth on the back of her hand. “You probably shouldn’t drive,” he added with a sympathetic smile, and grabbed the bottle to keep her from having anymore. He crossed the kitchen to stick it on a shelf in the fridge.

Astrid had followed him and he laughed when he turned to find her determined pout. “Heather drove me here,” she said as if she needed to defend herself. “And she’s probably just gonna sleep here, because, you know Fish is her boyfriend, and I don’t have a bus pass because I walk to lab and you know what? I don’t… I don’t wanna go.” She paused then, as creaking gears turned in her head. “Because, Hiccup, I am very cold, and I can’t go because you’re so warm. I’m freezing.” She finished with a nod to punctuate her point.

“You’re right,” Hiccup said laughing, “I can’t fight that logic. It’s too cold to go anywhere right now. Stay here.” He pulled her back to his body and hugged her for a few seconds, his hands rubbing her back and shoulders to build up more heat.

He led her to the empty living room and parked her on the couch, promising a blanket and some food. “Here, you can wear this.” He handed her a dark hoodie with large red letters stitched on the front. Astrid shrugged into the oversized warmth and thanked Hiccup. He waved her off. “Can’t have you freezing to death before morning. Heather would probably kill me.”

“It’s very likely she would. I’m her roommate, she needs my rent money,” Astrid joked as Hiccup settled in next to her on the wide faux-leather couch. She happily accepted when he offered her half of the blanket.

“It’s a good thing I keep a personal stash in my room,” he said opening a couple of crinkly bags. “I don’t think there’s any food left in this house.”

“Gotta do BYOF parties from now on.” Astrid said before popping a cheese puff into her parched mouth. She turned her head and looked at him, relaxed next to her, searching through his phone to find something to cast onto Fish’s TV. “Hey,” she said softly, grabbing his attention away from the screen.

“Hm?” He smiled at her, waiting for her to continue.

“Could you tell me more about the elephants?” She asked and grabbed a handful of popcorn. Before he could answer, she quickly added, “And the seals? What other wild animals have you saved?” The slurring from earlier was gone as fog gradually lifted out of her head. I wanna know everything.”

Hiccup didn’t need anyone to ask him twice to regale them about his work, and he definitely didn’t need convincing as Astrid’s eyes shined with eagerness. “Sure, but don’t be surprised when it’s morning and you’ve only heard about the elephants.” He was joking, but also not really. He placed the bags of food between them, lifted his arm, inviting Astrid to lean closer to his warmth, and once she was deeply settled into the couch and his side, he began from the start. “So, someone at the zoo found out that I’d fit a turtle with a prosthetic, so they sent me an email inquiring…”

As he told the story, Astrid felt like she could stay here forever, but as soon as the thought flitted across her mind, she buried it deep and forced herself to stay in the present, taking in his words. Short waves of lightness from the champagne made her sigh, content as she let herself belong in Hiccups arms.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! This oneshot was inspired by a song I was obsessed with last year. If anyone knows the song, let me know in the comments, brownies for you!  
> Please excuse any errors, I'm my own beta for this one.
> 
> Cheers!


End file.
